Hi i just recently this year started shooting benchrest at a club near me. Primarily to help zero my rifle for hft in a wind free environment. I had a s400 not doing anything, so decided to use her for benchrest. While making a hw101 up for benchrest. S400 not used for four year. Out of the bag, zero her up. shot my first card 249 2Rd 250, shot two cards every week for three weeks only dropped tree points. Total of 72 x's, Pellets straight out of the tin. Then ran out of pellets, not a problem got twenty tin of that batch. Turn up the next week to shoot, could only get 241-246 pellets all over the place. Another tin same thing five more tins same thing. So weighed them put them in to three tins 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 then size each tin. Weight/head size in to pellet trays. Then tested still all over the place. So now thinking do I treat my pellets like a fine red wine and open the tin and let them breathe for a month. Because that first tin had been open many time to test other rifles I had. So now iv clean the barrel. And still to this day can not find a pellet it like. I would really appreciate any advice. Am I missing something. I didn't release how Intense this BR can be. I'm just a 10mag zero a 30 yds and pellets that groups well at 45 yds guy.
Could be a number of things, probably not you though by the sounds of it. Have a careful think about what else might have changed. It could be something that you've dismissed as not mattering.
Wish I had some to blame Hi Brian thanks I'll have a think. One thing come to mind I was borrowing a high end front stand and I'm using the one I brought now. Which is the same ish just smaller...
Have a check that your scope is not only focused, but that you aren't getting any parallax error at all. With the gun on the rest bob your head around a bit to make sure the crosshairs don't move. You can sometimes get parallax error when an illuminated ret is turned on too.
Yer I'll try that. It's a zos 10-40x60 not ideal but waiting on a new scope. Iv only been able to shoot once a week . And there's a queue normal to shoot so fill bit rushed sometimes.
Question. Did you zero the S400 and shoot the good cards during the very warm period we have had recently? And if so, did you then shoot the new batch of pellets after it cooled down? We have had quite a few people at our club complaining that things changed whilst it was hot from when a rifle was zero'd during the earlier, cooler part of this year. It wasn't just one or two. Everyone was having similar issues.
Hi Dreamer The S400 has been zero from may. Only had to give it a little left or right here and there . If it had of move up or down I would of just use a different aim point. But it was spot on. The gun was shooting spot on from then till June. It only change when I started a new tin from the same batch I was already using.
Think I'm going to give the barrel another clear. May do a crown Polish to. That's worked on other rifles iv got.
Polishing??? I did a bsa hornet that I couldn't find a pellet for. I now have three batches it likes that it didn't before...
OK, just another thought; are you happy that your scope hasn't been knocked and that the reticle hasn't moved or loosened? Also, are you sure the barrel is firmly fixed in the action? I had similar problems with my S400 earlier this year and dropped it in to our local gun shop for a service (mine's very old - no safety catch!) and he found the barrel was loose in the action and moving very slightly each shot, just enough to ensure my benchrest scores were dropping below my average, despite being very careful on releasing each shot. All tightened up now, so when it goes wrong it's my fault.
Thanks Dreamer. I'll definitely check that tomorrow night when I go to the gun club. Iv just brought 14 jsb tin with different batch code off a friend that's selling up, So I'll try them to. is it good practice to clean the barrel after each different tin?? Was thinking of giving the barrel a proper clean tonight to see how she preforms tomorrow.